The Travel Expert

For the past 60 years private jets have been exclusive to only the wealthiest people in the world. For the most part there are 2 types of people that fly private.

1. People that own their own plane

2. People that have the money to pay $20,000 - $500,000 to charter a jet for a single flight 

Thanks to technology and a very smart entrepreneur that is now changing. Jetsmarter is giving the every day individual and the frequent flier a chance to access the private skies for a fraction of a regular charter. They are a membership based mobile app that offers a wide range of services. I will dig more into their different membership options but first I'll talk a little bit about my personal experience with them.

The Service

Jet smarter offers 3 different types of services when it comes to flying. Shuttles, charters and empty legs.

Shuttles - Shuttles are weekly flights that Jetsmarter offers to their members. These flights are accessible to anyone with a membership and you are usually sharing a jet with other people on these flights. Shuttles range from twice a week to once a week so you have to work around their schedule. This is great for people that travel from Miami to NYC and Los Angeles and need to be constantly hopping around. Jetsmarter is also now offering shuttles from NYC to London and London to Dubai. There are also various shuttles in between Europe and the Middle East.

Charters - These are the traditional method of booking private jets. Traditionally you would have a broker that would arrange the flight for you but now it is as easy as pressing a button on an app. Simply type in your departure location, destination and dates and Jetsmarter will give you pricing options based on plane type. 

2016 was an amazing year, actually the best year of my life. It was a year of personal and professional growth. With that growth comes distraction, I admit I have isolated my self from writing because I have been so busy. Luckily, the people that read about my travels have motivated me enough to continue writing so I made it my most important resolution of 2017.
On a side note I have not stopped traveling. Actually, I traveled more in 2016 then I did in 2015. A grand total of 135,000 miles and 125 flights. Traveling is what I live for and I will not stop. This article will concentrate on my last trip to Europe in November. I got to make a lot of dreams reality and had an amazing experience with my girlfriend Vero and my best friends. Traveling with your friends is magic, it allows you to really discover people in ways you wouldn't otherwise. By the way, i'm up to 155,000 readers thank you everyone for the support and motivation!!!

The Flight

One of the reasons I continue to stay loyal to American Airlines is because of the One World benefits. One World is an alliance of the largest airlines in the world, with AA miles I can book travel on all these partner airlines. On this specific trip we decided to start out with Venice, Italy. After looking at different routes and milage cost we decided to fly Air Berlin. Quick warning to everyone, NEVER BOOK BRITISH AIRWAYS on a Transatlantic flight using miles. The taxes on a round trip flight will average $500 - $1,000. You are better off paying for a full priced ticket. On this occasion we booked a one way flight from Orlando (MCO) - Venice (VCE) with a layover in Dusseldorf (DUS)  and JFK in NYC for only 22,500 miles per person and $15 USD what a deal! For people that don't fly often I suggest signing up for one of AA's current credit card offers, specifically the Citi Platinum Select Card. For signing up and spending $3,000 in 3 months they will gift you 50,000 miles. Thats a free trip to Europe!

Since I am Executive Platinum this gives me One World Emerald status with all of the alliance partner airlines. As we arrived in JFK we where given invitations to the American Airlines International First Class Lounge.

If you fly first class on any domestic airline in the USA it is pretty much easy to say that it is very bland and nothing out of the ordinary. I went out of my way on 2 trips to fly on the planes American Airlines uses to fly international, to test a "real" business class product.
I was pleasantly shocked by the service and the difference in the culinary product they offer. I will be comparing AA's Boeing 767-300 and AA's 777-300W Business class products. These planes are usually flown on daily routes to Europe, Asia and Australia. Once a day they will offer non stop services from MIA-LAX and LAX-MIA. I had the benefit on flying on each one of these planes for 6 hours.

Boeing 767-300

I have flow on this plane several times, mostly on short flights from Orlando to Dallas or Orlando to Charlotte so I have never fully experienced everything they offer on long haul flights. I boarded the plane and went straight to my seat, the first thing that caught my attention was the pillow and blanket. They are significantly different than the rag blanket you usually get on AA's regular planes. The seats on this plane have a beautiful slick design, they are all fully lay flat and offer decent privacy.

It's been a few weeks since I have been able to document my travels. I just wrapped up a 10 day vacation in Europe and have been extremely busy with work on top. This recent trip to Europe was one of the most special trips I have experienced to date. To be honest, I was a bit intimidated to travel to France because of how everyone claims they hate Americans. I found that rumor to be false but ill dive into that a little later. Before I start I want to say one thing. It bothers me how everyone makes excuses to not travel right now because of the recent attacks in Europe and the violence in the Middle East. NOW is the time to travel. I felt safer in Paris and Barcelona than I do right now in Little Rock, Arkansas as I write this post. We can choose to be proactive or reactive. If you decide to be reactive you will spend your whole life worrying about things you can't control. So make a mental shift, change your mindset, there is a beautiful world out there to discover.

The Flight
I had the blessing to spend this trip with my beautiful girlfriend and some amazing friends. We took a couples trip and used miles to fly over to Europe. Me and my friend Jean-Luc are both Executive Platinum members with American Airlines so we got a pretty cool airport experience that you can normally only access if you are flying on a European/Asian first class ticket. American Airlines has something called their "Flagship Lounge". There are only 5 of these lounges in the whole country and they are super exclusive. Even with my Admirals Club membership i still can't access a Flagship Lounge when flying domestic. We had a 6 hour layover in Chicago and spent that whole time in the lounge, they had several dining options as well as a full open bar. As you can imagine, 6 hours in an airport can get boring, but with an open bar we made the best of it :)

San Francisco is a must see city, this was my first trip to there and I couldn't get enough. The city is filled with unique characteristics that you cant find anywhere else in the United States. My trip turned into a Culinary treasure hunt unexpectedly and allowed me to enjoy some of the best meals I have ever eaten in my life. 

The Flight

When I fly I always check the different connection options specifically to see what planes are flying what routes. Obviously I enjoy flying on bigger planes because the first class products are nicer (especially when flying 6 hours from MIA-SFO). The flight I chose was scheduled to fly direct on an American Airlines 777-200, this was exiting for me because you usually only see these planes on international long hauls. I've started to notice more and more that flights out of Miami International tend to have nicer planes compared to flying through Charlotte or Dallas. This 777-200 was one of American's older planes and hasn't had a renovation yet. I love seeing stuff like this because I can see the transformation in First/Business class products and how they evolve. I flew in Business class in row 13A, the seats where still fully lay flat but they looked like big dinosaurs. Luckily the seats still had onboard entertainment so I could watch movies, this is something that the new 767-300's lack (have to watch overhead screens).

Hotel: Hyatt Regency Louisville

Distance from SDF Intl. Airport: 6 Miles ($15 Uber)

Length of stay: 4 Nights

Average nightly rate: $200 Avg/Night

Normally when I write I try to find a calm place where I can relax and really dig deep into my thoughts. I have been so busy lately that today I don't have that privilege. As i write this blog about my Louisville experience I am on a flight from Chicago to Los Angeles, I will be spending the week in San Diego, California. Regardless of the cities I visit (famous or not) I still strive to document it and share it with my readers. Last week I visited Louisville, Kentucky for 4 days and was pleasantly surprised with the unique city.

The Flight

I flew first class on an American Airlines Airbus A330, this was en exiting flight for me considering I have never flown on this model plane before. These big planes used to be operated by US Airways mostly for overseas flights. Once in a while you'll find these big planes being relocated around the country and it is a nice treat to fly within the USA in a nice first class pod. I decided to pick the seat in the last row just so I could take pictures without anyone yelling at me. You would be surprised how defensive flight attendants get trying to "secure" the identities of the other first class passengers.